The death of 15,000 people in Donbass is what’s truly extreme and brutal in comparison to the death sentences for the mercenaries. Writes Drago Bosnic
Three mercenaries fighting for the Kiev regime, Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, got death sentences for war crimes. They pleaded guilty after the investigation found their actions led to civilian casualties and the destruction of private and public property. Given the gravity of the charges, the judge announced the decision: “Pinner Sean, Aslin Aiden, Brahim Saadoun found guilty… Finally, to impose an exceptional measure of punishment in the form of death penalty for the totality of crimes.”
The presiding judge Alexander Nikulin said: “When passing the verdict, the court was guided not only by legal norms and rules, but also its main principle – justice. Regardless how difficult the decision is to apply an exceptional measure of punishment in the form of the death penalty to the convicts.”
According to DPR laws, the penalty is carried out by firing squad. It can be appealed within a month. The lawyer of one of the Britons, Alexander Kosovan, stated the convicts will do just that: “The desire of all three is to appeal the verdict, they were not ready to hear about the death penalty.” DPR head, Denis Pushilin, considers the court’s verdict logical and fair: “Most importantly, the criminals themselves, the mercenaries, did not hide their crimes, and some of them were published by posting materials about their crimes on social networks.”
Despite the severity of the sentence, there are ways for the convicts to avoid the penalty. Firstly, a moratorium on death sentences in DPR is in force until 2025. Secondly, there were cases of spies or mercenaries sentenced to death, which was never carried out, as they were exchanged. Thirdly, the three mercenaries and their sentences are deeply intertwined with (geo)politics. The death sentence is useful for the Donbass republics, as it’ll further demoralize thousands of mercenaries fighting for the Kiev regime and discourage those planning to join them. According to various sources, out of estimated 20,000 mercenaries, most already fled Ukraine due to massive losses. The verdict will likely exacerbate this.
This is also a major diplomatic and geopolitical embarrassment for the UK. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the verdict, calling the decision “null and void”. She expressed “support” for the mercenaries and added that “her thoughts are with the Pinner and Aslin families”. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the UK Justice Department Dominic Raab promised the Foreign Office would appeal the verdict in the event of a death sentence. London’s planned appeal has already been shunned by Moscow. According to the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, so far the UK hasn’t turned to Russia for assistance. Yet, a UK attempt to appeal the verdict will effectively be regarded as recognition of DPR, along with the legitimacy of its investigation and trial.
“The UK does not recognize the DPR. But in order to appeal the verdict, Foreign Ministry must appeal to the DPR Supreme Court. Thus, in fact, the state in which this court operates is recognized. You can not appeal to the authority of the state which does not exist. The British do not want to appeal directly to the DPR, since they don’t recognize it. This is how the British fall into a trap, they understand this and get very upset,” said Denis Pushilin.
However, the UK won’t be able to ignore the fate of its citizens for long, as the public is unlikely to take this lightly. The UK is starting a joint political counter-game with Ukraine, based on the premise its citizens are regular POWs. Ukraine claims they are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian military and are subject to Geneva Convention. Both Sean Pinner, a sniper, and Aiden Aslin, a machine-gunner, claimed they were involved with Ukrainian women and lived in Mariupol for years. Neither has Ukrainian citizenship. Legally speaking, they are foreigner mercenaries, which is an international crime. The prosecution used relevant international agreements – the Geneva Conventions and additional protocols – to avoid circumstantial or anecdotal evidence interfering with the process.
The UK will either have to ignore the fate of its citizens or do something to help them – hire lawyers, send representatives, etc. But it will be forced to do so within DPR’s legal framework. Officially, neither UK nor Morocco can intervene in the process. The convicts themselves or their representatives can. What the UK and Morocco can do is exchange their citizens. But even in this case, both countries still need to agree with the court’s decision. The convicts have other options, too. They can appeal to DPR head, Denis Pushilin, with a request for pardon. However, even if it’s granted, the mercenaries are still facing at least 25 years to life in a penal colony.
The verdicts serve as a warning to other war criminals – they can stay in the comfort of their homes, or fight for the Kiev regime, risking life and limb or prison and the death penalty. This might be considered “too extreme” by most people living in normal circumstances. However, the people of Donbass have been living in anything but for nearly a decade now. And it was precisely people like Aslin, Pinner and Saadoun who contributed greatly to that by joining the Kiev regime’s Neo-Nazi forces, the consequence being the death of around 15,000 people in Donbass. This is what’s truly extreme and brutal, so, in comparison, the death sentences they’ve received pale into insignificance.
Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst.
